Venture capital activity improved slightly year-over-year, with a total of $7.5 billion invested in 966 new companies nationwide during the quarter that ended June 30th, according to the MoneyTree Report released today.

Investment levels represented the highest quarterly total since the pre-recessionary second quarter of 2008, according the report, which is prepared by the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) and PricewaterhouseCoopers, based on data from Thomson Reuters. The partners are expected to release details on regional venture activity trends later today.

The $7.5 billion invested during the quarter represented an 18.7 percent increase over the previous quarter, when $6.3 billion was invested across the country, according to the report. The 966 deals also represented an 18.6 percent gain over the 814 deals done during the first quarter. Compared to the same quarter in 2010, however, the numbers appeared less impressive, amounting to a 5 percent increase in dollars (from nearly $7.2 billion) and a 3 percent decline in deals (from 998).

In a similar way, the MoneyTree Report highlighted the $2.08 billion in financing that went to 206 biotech and medical device and equipment-makers during the quarter, saying it represented a 37 percent increase in dollars and a 12 percent gain in deals compared to the previous quarter. A year-over-year comparison, however, shows a 2.7 percent decline (from $2.14 billion invested) and a 21 percent decline (from 261) in deal volume from the second quarter of 2010.

The single biggest deal of the quarter involved the Boston-based online retailer CSN Stores, which raised $165 million from Battery Ventures, Great Hill Equity Partners, HarbourVest Partners and Spark Capital. The second biggest was a $138 million investment in the Gilt Groupe, another e-commerce provider based in New York, followed by a nearly $115 million venture round for Fisker Automotive, the Anaheim, CA-based electric vehicle maker.

The latest numbers in the MoneyTree Report’s roughly correspond with … Next Page »